Obama Walks While Fox Squawks

Not since 1977 has a newly inaugurated President walked Pennsylvania Avenue; Jimmy Carter was the last President to do so until yesterday. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama got out of their armored Cadillac limo to walk Pennsylvania Avenue in a 15 degree wind chill. The Obamas graciously waved and smiled at the thongs of citizens that gathered to get a glimpse of the world's most powerful couple. While millions of people here and around the world were wishing President Obama well, a bottomless pitcher of haterade was being served up over at Fox News. I caught a somber looking Brit Hume praising the presidency of the outgoing 43rd and Glenn Beck nitpicking the 44th's pragmatic but eloquent inauguration speech. I see it's going to take some people a long time to get over the fact that Barack Obama is our president. Now is as good a time as any because it's going to be a long four years. Hume, Beck and the rest of the haters over at Fox News and beyond, are content to wallow in their divisive, narrow minded politics. They are convinced they know better than the 9 million people who elected Barack Obama by overwhelming popular vote. As Americans, we all have a stake in Obama's success as well as failure, whether they want to acknowledge this or not. At one of the most challenging economic times in American history, President Obama is going to need our support and prayers. Change has obviously come but some people still aren't ready for it.

Hillary Sucks Up To Bloggers

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeThe first thing that shot though my mind when I saw Hillary take the stage was the color of her pant suit. I have never seen her in something so colorful and bold. The second thought was... "hmmm, that is Daily Kos orange." I think the coverage for this convention is better than any of recent elections, mainly because of the Big Tent bloggers. I am getting more nitty-gritty, more insight and better analysis than I am getting elsewhere. MSNBC is OK (better with Olbermann and Maddow). CNN is totally fucking unwatchable. Fox News is easier to watch than CNN and that is saying something. CNN can't claim it has the best "political team in television" while showing a picture of Larry King. It is an oxymoron. CNN's coverage is so bad, I keep hoping that Lou Dobbs would show up just so someone would say something off-script. One of my fav things to watch is the MSNBC crowd cheering when Maddow is introduced (and loudly disagreeing with Pat Buchannan on almost everything). Sooner or later, that crowd is gonna make Pat cry. Bloggers aren't at that point... yet.

Fair, Balanced, All Edwards, All the Time

Appearing at The Jaundiced Eye, the Independent Bloggers' Alliance, and My Left Wing. Now I would be the last person to say that the Edwards affair is not news. In fact, I've pretty consistently argued that it is news. But this is positively surreal. I think my favorite part is where Erbe is explaining the political and national security implications of the Russia/Georgia war, as they show endless video of John and Elizabeth Edwards and Rielle Hunter.

Why Fox News canceled my interview about Netroots & the Troops - KO-worthy

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeAt 3:44pm Eastern, Fox News Channel employee (I am guessing a segment producer) Eldad Yaron called me to arrange an interview for me to talk about BooksForSoldiers.com, our fundraising problems and how I am using the netroots to solve the problem. BooksForSoldiers.com is a website run by a 501(c)(3) federally recognized tax-exempt charity. Any deployed US solider can go to the BooksForSoldiers.com website, fill out their contact info and tell us what they want - books, DVDs, video games, tube socks, almost anything - we will then send the item to the soldier for free. Plus we typically toss in snacks, chapstick, playing cards, and a brief note. I started sending books to deployed soldiers during the first Gulf War. A bunch of my college friends were in the National Guard and they suddenly found themselves in Saudi Arabia setting up their Army hospital. When I heard of the extreme boredom of the troops after the shooting was over, I got all my friends I knew back in the states to give me their old novels and I sent them to the Army hospital in Riyadh. When Bush started his war, I knew I wanted to do the same thing, but on a larger scale, so I put together BooksForSoldiers.com. I originally though for this new war, the troops would be back home in 6 weeks - I never thought Books For Soldiers would still be going 5 years later. I was totally unprepared for that. What started as a six week project has become a 5 year plus journey. As with all journeys, there are bumps along the way. Books For Soldiers is having financial problems due to corporate funding drying up. (You can donate here!) We had no corporate donations for the first quarter of this year. BFS is not a special case, other charities are in the same boat. Women's shelters are having to shut down and food banks have been hit very hard this year. In short, the economy sucks. The Board of Directors gave us a second chance at fund raising and assigned us a deadline of November 1st to raise the $70,000 goal or we would have to shut down at the end of the year. We would have the last Holiday Package Drive and that would be it. I followed up the phone call with Fox News' Eldad Yaron with 8 emails - arranging for a driver to pick me up and drive me to San Francisco, sending them the BFS story, just putting the segment together for 10:20am Eastern today. I would arrive at their San Francisco location at no later than 10am and I would be on-air at exactly 10:20 - that was when they booked the sat time. Yaron's last email to me read: I'll brief you more in the morning but we're good to go. This morning, 45 minutes before the car was supposed to pick me up, another Fox News employee, Kelly, called me to tell me the segment had been canceled. "Something came up." Well, Hell. I used the last of my shave gel, got all dolled up and had no place to go! I smelled a rat, hard to avoid with Fox News, and I wondered what story I got bumped for, so I switched on Fox News. Here is their line-up for the 10am hour of America's Newsroom With Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly. Keep in mind, I was slated for 10:20am. 10:08 Running of the Bulls 10:13 Video of a car chase in Portland, Oregon 10:13 Oregon man flies in a lawn chair from oregon to idaho 10:20 MAN BITTEN BY SNAKE IN FLORIDA WALMART 10:22 Obama and McCain layout out economic plans 10:25 Baseball player, A-Rod might be involved with Madonna according to tabloids. Books For Soldiers got bumped for a snakebite story! A bite where no one died! Here is a link to the wire story. I understand how cable news works and big stories could break at anytime. If Mugabe called for new elections or it started to rain in Big Sur, that I can understand being bumped. But a guy gets bit by a pygmy rattlesnake at the local Walmart and the soldiers get bumped? WTF, indeed. My theory is BFS represents yet another inconvenient truth or maybe several: Soldiers need to turn to the charities for things the military cannot provide. BFS is run by a flaming liberal and had Michael Moore as a supporter. A soldier's charity run out of corporate funding because the economy is in the toilet. Yes, those bring up a whole host of issues, the Neo-cons, and I suspect their puppets at Fox News would rather not dwell about. You cannot ask me the second question, "Why is BFS in financial trouble?" without hitting an idealogical snag. This story is what I call "Keith-worthy" - a story that would fit well as a "Worst Person" segment. Don't you think? Here is a job for all you NetRooters out there, email Keith and anyone you might know at Countdown and pass this story along. My goal is to find funding for BFS, not the cartoon or anything else. This is netroots for the troops. YOU are the netroots for the troops. And here is a small note for Keith, Here is another opportunity to apply your sharpened stick to the eye of Fox News. I can supply you the emails and let you listen to Kelly's voice mail! Here is my contact info: stormbear [at] gmail.com 415-351-8497 Get it before Fox News sends out the lawyers with a cease and desist! Lastly, thank-you for your support of our troops.

Sean Hannity - Great Soviet

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeIf we are going to have freedom of speech then it has to apply to everyone. Certainly Ron Paul is not my candidate of choice but just because he doesn't suit my elective tastes does not mean he should be shut out. Congressman Paul had one helluva weekend, hauling in $4.2 million in what I would call a genius fund raising strategy and if that kind of HISTORIC event should guarantee anything, it should guarantee Ron Paul a seat at the Iowa GOP Debate, but it seems it will not. The same day that Ron Paul made presidential fund raising history, the Iowa GOP announced that its December 4th Republican Debate in Des Moines Iowa to be aired by Fox News, would only include candidates polling at least 5% in presidential polls. The move by the Iowa GOP and Fox News to exclude candidates based on polls at this early stage of the presidential race has outraged Ron Paul supporters and may provoke a large demonstration at the site of the debate. Paul supporters feel the move is a deliberate attempt to censor Ron Paul from the debate. Messages of outrage have been posted on websites and are spreading by email about the debate. At the current pace of fund raising it is possible that Ron Paul may end up with more cash on hand at the end of the quarter than any of the other candidates running in the Republican primary. Sean Hannity after the last debate, continually derided Paul supporters and expressed his disbelief in the polls that featured Ron Paul doing well. This past weekend should come with a good helping of crow, but Sean probably could care less. He has other things to lie about. Democracy only works when all voices are loosed upon the populace. We The People have always done a good job when we hear all sides. When we don't hear all sides, we get things like the Iraq War, Bush listening to every phone call in America, Rove reading all of our emails, and all the rest of it. When we do not hear all voices, we get the corrupt Congress we have today. Now, if I could only loosen up Al Gore's tongue...

And Now, Here's Not The News

With more than twenty years in the business, actor John Cusak was asked if he saw any difference in the way celebrities were covered by the news media. "It's gotten more and more insane," he replied. "Invasive and insane. Now there's not even the pretext that anyone has had to have done anything to get famous. It used to be that at least that someone had an infamous moment. Or they had done something good at some point, or something interesting or successful. Now you can just get into the circuit." Apparently, Cusak isn't the only guy that feels that way: According to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 87 percent of those surveyed said celebrity scandals receive too much coverage. Only 2 percent responded there wasn't enough coverage. The public put most of the blame for the coverage squarely on the new media, with 54 percent responding that news organizations are at fault; nearly one third (32 percent) blamed the public for paying so much attention to celebrity coverage; 12 percent said the blame should be equally shared between the public and the media." Look, I can understand the need to unplug the brain once in a while. It's the same insane compulsion that drives health-conscious people tired of tofu and asparagus pizza to suddenly attack Fritos, Twinkies, Big Macs, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Of course, just as too much junk food will rot your teeth, too much junk news will turn your brain into pink jello. Britney and Nicole and Lindsay, oh my. But it's important to be able to tell the difference between news and celebrity puff pieces, and what separates, let's say, Fox News from "Entertainment Tonight" is that Fox News is nastier. ET interviews TV and movie stars, Fox News showcases bad actors who pretend they're journalists. ET pushes gossip, Fox News catapults the propaganda from the White House. ET overpraises untalented celebrities enjoying their fifteen minutes, Fox deifies dirtbag politicians and pundits who lie to us. Fox News is a bad sitcom with a loud soundtrack of canned laughter snickering at ugly jokes that weren't funny twenty years ago, and it needs to be canceled. (click on image to enlarge)

Congressional Black Caucus getting more Toxic

More toxic political garbage from the Congressional (FOX) Caucus I guess African American bloggers will be called "Liberal Activists" again as we continue to report and post on the stupidity of the Congressional FOX Caucus. Let's go backwards a number of months when twenty-six members of the Congressional Black Caucus signed letters and sent them to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (DN.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (DN.C.) urging them to reconsider their decisions to skip the event. The CBC also known as the Congressional FOX Caucus claimed the debates will be an opportunity to "help educate African Americans and others on key issues of national policy. Whatever!! Hat Tip: Afro-netizen.com and dnA for the list of CBC members who signed the letter. Well, the Congressional Black (Fox) Caucus leadership is dropping more (excuse the language) toxic political poop on America's black communities, and based on African American blogger comments we not feel'n good about it. Unfortunately, Sen. Joseph Biden, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich have agreed to join in on the poop event. Many African American bloggers, thought it may be over, the CBC would give up. It's not over as far as the Congressional Black Caucus is concerned. As reported by politico.com, prometheus6, Jack and Jill Politics and others, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick who seems to be acting like a FOX Network propaganda "stool pigeon" says, We're moving forward no matter what! We're definitely having a debate in Detroit in September," said CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who serves on the institute's board and represents Detroit in Congress. "We may change the format. We might have more than just the presidential candidates," she said. But she is not alone, there are more stool pigeons dropping poop on the black community. Check out Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), head of the CBC Institute, who said he still held out hope that he could convince the front-runners to attend. He preferred not to dwell on the idea of a lonely stage with Biden, Kucinich and Gravel lobbing bombs at their absentee rivals. "We're still working to get the other people to reconsider," Thompson said. "Their decision to make Fox News the issue is not a good idea. Whether you agree or disagree with [Fox], they have a viewership." AAPP: Ok, Let me be clear, this guy Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) may be powerful in the House of Representatives, but I'm with the American public regarding congress. This guy's statement about Fox, proves he is a moron. This guy is still in denial that Obama, Clinton and Edwards are not attending the FOX/CBC debate, even though he and the other CBC Fox News supporters are "fair and stupid" regrading this redneck shindig. We can all expect Jesse Jackson, Sr., to be there smilin' for the cameras'. "I Guess Bennie (yes-um FOX) Thompson has gotten very comfortable to those Mississippi rednecks like racially divisive Klan supporter Trent ( the United States would have avoided "all these problems" if then-segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948) Lott. As Jack and Jill Politics points out, "The CBC's defense of their partnership with conservative propaganda outlet Fox News Channel is becoming increasingly absurd." Skeptical Brotha was so right back in May of this year about the majority of the CBC selling out to Fox Noise Channel. African American bloggers such as The Reid Report and many, many others have been concerned for some time about the CBC's DUBIOUS FRIENDS. We should all remember how and why Kucinich, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel attended the FOX debate when we get into that voting booth. I'm not saying vote for or against a person just because of one position or stand, but I don't think we should forget who stood with black folks, and who stood against and pooped on black folks all in the name of exposure, instead of integrity. In the meantime, I'm getting some type of poop off (not and endorsement of the product) to fight against the Congressional Fox Caucus, and the candidates who support their efforts to poop on black communities. Because I don't like poop. I Don't l know anyone who does like poop, let alone "Toxic Political poop." oops... there is one group that does. As a clear example: The Congressional FOX Caucus. But as they say poop happens! Can the CBC spread that toxic political poop around to some other group? I'm tired of it. What about you?

Bullshit

On Fox News the other day, Bernard Goldberg said to Michelle Malkin: “We go to the American people and we ask them if they can pick out Kansas on a map and they can’t. We ask them if they can pick out England on a map and they can’t. We ask them who the Vice-president is, they don’t have any idea. Who’s the Secretary of State? “I don’t know.” Then we go to them and ask them what they think of the Lewis Libby commutation? I don’t care what the American people have to say about these things.” Oh yeah, Mr. Goldberg? You and your gang thought We, The People were Einsteins six years ago. Now we're supposed to be dumb? Furthermore, why do you assholes make it hard for people to vote, for example? As it is, the purple fingers in those doomed elections in Iraq seemed to be more accurate than, let's say, the Diebold machines in Ohio. Besides, maybe you don't care, but any Republican up for re-election sure does. Go ahead, ignore those polls at your peril. Do you know why? It's simple. People had had enough. Enough. As an unknown philosopher said, "If you don't wanna be bullshitted, you better know what bullshit is." Which, by the way, describes Bernie's book perfectly. And except for the lobotomized 28%, people can't ignore that the putrid stench oozing from the White House anymore. That Haliburton air fresher personally autographed in blood by Dick Cheney ain't working too good. Not when everything is going wrong in America, and it's getting worse, and it doesn't look like it's going to get better. People can't afford gas, can't afford rent, can't afford cars, can't afford medical insurance, and can't afford poverty. So, oddly enough, they don't want to hear a rich, tanned, well-fed talking head wearing a thousand dollar suit on TV pontificating about Bill, Monica and The Blowjob anymore. Little Neo In Dreamland doesn't want to swallow the blue pill anymore. Welcome to the real world. Fox News: Gays! Lesbians! Welfare! Immigrants! Clinton Blowjob Clinton Blowjob Clinton Blowjob! Bad bad bad bad bad! Us: Fuck you! How am I gonna pay the mortgage? How am I gonna pay for my Mom's surgery? How am I gonna pay for my retirement? Fox News: Tax Cuts! Get rid of Social Security! Work at Wal-Mart! Us: Bullshit! Fox News: No! Don't use your brain! If you do, the terrorists win! Aaaaiiee! Logic! Our Kryptonite! Ah, I love the smell of bullshit in the morning. It lets me know that something has gone bad and it needs to be thrown away. Now. Hey, Bernie? Grab a shovel.

Freakshow

Ick. Remember freak shows? For a quarter, voyeurs from small towns would eagerly gawk at the bearded lady, the World's Fattest Man, midgets, Siamese twins and Zippy the Pinhead. "Oh wow, lookit that, Ma!" "Not so loud, Timmy. It can hear you. Pass the popcorn." But we've moved on from those barbaric times. We're civilized. Who goes to nasty old circuses now? That’s so twentieth century. Besides, why stare at physical deformities when it’s more fun to peel off a loser’s emotional scabs in front of everybody? Now that’s entertainment! Today, the freak show comes to you. Hey, isn't American Idol on tonight? Oh, don't be fooled into thinking it's just a big and loud talent contest where bad singers disfigure good R&B/Rock 'n' Roll songs and induce migraines. No, it's a sleazy, lowbrow carnival where pop music's Axis of Evil gleefully crush the dreams of anyone foolish enough to step inside. And how could you forget William Hung? Ick. Is American Idol any worse than those daytime TV shows where you can watch the obese lesbian ex-nun having a incestuous relationship with her HIV+ step-brother who's in jail for stabbing their blind grandmother to death? Sure it is. At least Jerry doesn't ask his victims to sing for their supper. "Sweet Jesus, ain't she terrible? Sounds like somebody's torturing a cat, huh? Pass the popcorn." And, of course, the noisy carnage drowns out a national dialog on topics like Iraq or rising gas prices or the sudden uselessness of the FDA. We're more interested in hearing about what Sanjaya's doing now. As Neal Postman wrote in Amusing Ourselves To Death, “Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.” Hey, whatever happened to Clay what's-his-name?

Obama and Edwards to skip Fox debate

Via Yahoo News: An Obama aide said the Illinois senator had no plans to attend the Sept. 23 debate in Detroit that Fox agreed to co-sponsor with the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute. Obama will take part in a different debate hosted by the institute and CNN in January. "CNN seemed like a more appropriate host," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. Obama's decision comes three days after former Sen. John Edwards, another Democratic presidential candidate, announced he was pulling out of the Fox-sponsored debate. Read the rest here.

Jesse Jackson supports FOX News - the septic tank scum of news networks.

The Congressional Black Caucus "Club" have forgotten about black folks again. This time it's Jesse Jackson who is joining the Congressional Black Caucus in showing his Rainbow to black folk. Jack and Jill Politics reports that Jesse Jackson is Flip-Floping on CBC/Fox Debates. AAPPundit says: Black Agenda Report is on point. Fox News has rented the Congressional Black Caucus and now Jesse Jackson. Surprise - Surprise! Cross posted at African American Political Pundit and Independent Bloggers Alliance

OH NO THEY DIDN'T!!!

Sometimes I get so pissed off at my people that I am scared to even post about it. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes when I read today that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) agreed to partner with the FAKE NEWS NETWORK to sponsor some upcoming presidential debates . Ever since finding out about this travesty, I have been trying to figure out why the Congressional Black Coons would do such a thing. I mean, have they not heard the pleas and the outcry from thousands of their constituents not to partner with FOX? I know I rip Jessie Jackson from time to time, but I have to give him credit for speaking out against this "partnership" as well. I just wish more of these CBC members would grow some and come out against this partnership with the FAKE NEWS NETWORK. Folks, we are talking about a group of people that consistently marginalized black people, and use us to play on the fears of their red state watchers to increase viewership. The "fair and balanced" people have not been so fair or so balanced when it comes to black folks. They are the ones that called a mainstream African American church separatist. They are the ones who consistently ignore important stories about black folks and give us fluff pieces about the rotting body of a no talented pin up girl. They are the ones who called black people racist on the occasion of the funeral of the wife of our greatest civil rights icon. And these ignorant ass politicians are co-sponsoring a debate with these mother f*****s. Do they even know who they are dealing with in Rupert Murdoch? Talk about making a deal with the devil. But I swear some of us will do anything for the almighty dollar. At some point we as black folks have to ask ourselves why we even vote for these jokers. The leaders of these clowns, Bennie Thompson, (D-Miss), and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D- Md) even tried to justify this bull sh**. {"The CBC Institute is committed to presenting the presidential candidates to the broadest audience possible"} All the while ignoring the organized efforts of black folks and thousands of signatures and phone calls to their sorry ass organization.I have been down to D.C. on occasion for the CBC weekend. And my friends, if you want to see cooning in full force, you might want to take a trip down there to see these clowns in person. They are a joke, and they could care less about the people they serve. Most of them are looking out for themselves while trying to line their grubby pockets. (Insert your Dollar Bill Jefferson reference here) They could really care less about black folks or our issues out here. Their focus is getting reelected every two years, and holding on to their power.I am begging every black (or white) person that voted for these clowns to vote for their opponent in their next quest to go back to Washington. I don't care of they are running against the Geico f*****g cave man, do not vote for those mother f*****s; they are fowl, and they are tainted by greed and money."Collaborating with FOX NEWS provides an opportunity to take this presidential election to millions of households". And exactly how many of those households do you think will vote for a democrat? So way to go CBC, you have embarrassed your selves, your constituents, and your f*****g race. How you live with yourselves I just don't know, but I guess at this stage in your careers, you lost the ability to feel shame a long time ago.But you know what; I feel shame for you, and I am embarrassed that you house Negroes even look like me, or share my heritage. FOX NEWS??? Still, I am not going to trip, I just won't forget, and I hope every other black person that voted for your sorry asses won't forget either.

three reasons to give three cheers to blogtopia! and yes! we coined that phrase!

cross-posted at skippy and a veritable cornucopia of other community blogs. we have noticed, as of late, a disheartening trend in various comments and blog posts around blogtopia (y!wctp!). several writers have seemingly fallen into the dumps because things are not progressing as progressively as progressives would like. they cite the dems' refusal to discuss impeachment, the iraq defunding which looks to be dead in the water, and the general tendency of those in charge to ignore the common citizens they are supposedly hired by to run things. however, we here at skippy international are feeling pretty good about things, and we wish that the rest of you in blogtopia (y!wctp!) would join us. after all, there are several major accomplishments that have come to fruition recently, all of which were done, if not completely, then certainly with major efforts, by the netroots. to start with, blogs and bloggers really came into their own as true-to-life journalists with the libby trial. thanks to the kids at firedoglake, and to marcy wheeler (also known as "emptywheel"...and maybe some day she'll explain what the hell that screen name means), as well as swopa of medianeedle, jerlayn merritt of talkleft and margie burns for bradblog (plus others we have surely missed, and our apologies if we have), the idea of blogs as actual journalism came into existence. where before blogs were seen mainly as an outlet for cranky powerless people to whine, suddenly it was proven that they could be used as an outlet for cranky powerless people to disseminate information on a national level at a level far deeper and wider in scope than any electronic media, and most dead trees media. dan froomkin, and admitted fan of blogs, said on a washpost.com q&a: i think what firedoglake.com did with this trial was not just impressive, it was transformative. by offering the public live-blogging of this very important trial, you not only put the msm to shame, but actually became a must-read for journalists who couldn't attend the trial, but wanted to get a better and faster sense of what was going on than they could from their own colleagues. i'm not saying that the msm should emulate everything bloggers do -- far from it -- but the blogosphere's enthusiasm for this story was something to behold, and admire. now, we here at skippy international had little to do with the libby coverage, short of a recurring photoshop, but just the very fact that several blogs made history by making journalism with this story should be an inspiration to everyone in blogtopia (y!wctp!). this post is far too long to take up any more room here at iba. you can find two more reasons to give three cheers, as well as tons of pithy analysis, available at skippy.

Nevada Dems say no to Fox

Via Huffington Post: The Huffington Post can confirm that the Nevada Democratic Party has decided to back out of a Fox News-sponsored presidential debate in August following Fox President Roger Ailes's recent remarks comparing Democratic Senator Barack Obama to al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Fox News did not answer calls seeking reaction to the decision. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had already announced that he would not participate in the Fox debate. His party followed suit today, under pressure from the more than 265,000 people who signed a petition calling Fox "a mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel" and urging Nevada officials to cancel. Click for the rest. Update: Here's the statement from MoveOn.org.